Why are bald eagles endangered?
People took away the eagles’ home, or habitat. They cut down trees that eagles need for nests. Some people have shot the birds. Most farmers use chemicals to kill insects on crops. These chemicals wash into rivers and get into fish. Eagles ate the fish and got the chemicals too. In the 1950s and ’60s, many farmers used a harmful chemical called DDT. They used it because it worked well to kill insects. They didn’t know then that it would also eventually kill eagles and other birds. Eagles with DDT in their bodies laid eggs with thin shells. The thin eggs were crushed when the parents sat on them. Few baby eagles were born.
